


More Than Enough

by Millennial_Medusa



Series: PJO/HOO Baseball AU [5]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, also some angst i guess, percabeth, this is pretty much just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 22:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15083522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Millennial_Medusa/pseuds/Millennial_Medusa
Summary: Percy comes home early from practice sick and upset, but Annabeth is there to take care of him.





	More Than Enough

**Author's Note:**

> This drabble is a another part of my Baseball AU, because I can't get baseball!Percy out of my head now that I've created him. Honestly there's...no substance to this, and I don't even feel bad. Just a little comfort fic.

The words were starting to blur across the page, probably because she’d been staring at the same paragraph for roughly fifteen minutes. Annabeth sighed and rubbed her eyes, hoping to clear away the letters floating across her field of vision, disembodied—disem…word…ed? That definitely wasn’t a word. Could letters be disembodied? Could words be considered the bodies of letters?

Great, now she was losing her mind. 

The reading wasn’t due until Monday, but she was going to Percy’s game tomorrow night and didn’t want to have any homework left for the weekend, so she’d planned on getting it done tonight. Unfortunately, her brain seemed to have other ideas. 

She sat up and stretched before reclining back into the pillows on the bed again. There were only twenty pages left; she could do this. She _could_ do this. Or she could see if anything good was on Netflix. 

No, she needed to do this reading. As soon as her eyes settled back on the page, however, she heard someone come into the apartment and slam the door behind them. She checked the time on her phone and frowned. It was barely 5; practice didn’t end until 5:30, so Percy never got home until a little after 6 at the earliest (and that was if he skipped studying with the team at the academic center, which didn’t happen often now that finals were approaching and games or practice occupied most of his time).

Maybe it was Piper? Annabeth had given her a key, but she thought Piper was working tonight. Maybe she’d gotten her schedule confused…

Before she could call out to see who, exactly, had just strolled into her apartment, the person in question appeared in the bedroom doorway, leaning against the frame in a manner that was clearly meant to look relaxed, but came off looking…wobbly.

“You look terrible,” Annabeth said, her eyes sweeping over his sallow cheeks and the dark circles deepening under his eyes. 

“Thanks,” Percy grumbled. “Just what every guy dreams of hearing from his girlfriend.” But the normal mischievous bite behind his words was missing, and the rasp in his throat only drew attention to that fact. 

“I’m serious, Percy,” she answered firmly, noting the way he was avoiding her gaze. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he grunted, but his gaze was still trained on the opposite wall and his green eyes were stormy. 

She sat up, setting her textbook aside. She prodded, a little more gently, “Then why are you home so early? I thought you had practice.”

He trudged over to sit on the edge of the bed facing away from her and bent to untie his sneakers. “I did. Chiron sent me home early.”

Annabeth’s stomach churned nervously, and she closed her textbook and set it on the bedside table. The reading wouldn't be getting done tonight, it seemed. She couldn’t remember the last time Percy had been sent home from practice early, and she could count on one hand the number of times he’d missed practice of his own accord over the last three years. He loved the sport and his team too much to want to miss it, no matter how tired he was. Even when he'd strained something in his shoulder, he'd gone to practice, if for no other reason than to be with the team. 

She crawled over to where he was seated, elbows resting on his knees and back hunched. His head hung down dejectedly. Annabeth laid a hand on his shoulder gently, leaning forward to look at him in profile. His eyes were shut and his mouth formed a tight line. 

“Why?” she asked softly. When he didn’t answer, her stomach did another flip. “Percy, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Percy muttered aggressively. Annabeth drew her hand away at that, irritation flaring up in her, but Percy finally met her gaze and his eyes softened. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…I’m just tired. Sorry.”

Shifting behind him, Annabeth stared to massage his back gently. She found herself in this position fairly often: Percy did his best to stretch and warm up before pitching or working out, but he always managed to work his back into knots despite his efforts. He only asked it of her when he was really hurting, but Annabeth enjoyed it. It relaxed him, and the soft, quiet moments like these that she shared with him alone were some of her favorites. 

“Why did Chiron send you home? she asked, bending forward to press a kiss to his cheek. 

He let out a sigh, whether in resignation or relaxation she wasn’t sure. “He thinks I’m sick.”

“That’s all?” Annabeth almost laughed. This whole time she’d been waiting for him to admit he’d gotten into a fight or had an issue with his classes or something worse, that he’d been suspended or kicked off the team. The knot in her stomach dissipated. Just sick? That was nothing. 

Percy turned his head to look at her, dark eyebrows drawn into a frown, but she hit a particularly stubborn knot that had him wincing and facing forward again. “I’m not sick, Annabeth, I didn’t need to come home early. I needed to be practicing for this series, but now…” He ran a hand through his hair, clearly distressed. 

Her fingers were working at the top his spine now, kneading up his neck to the base of his skull. He let out a strangled groan at her ministrations. “If Chiron thinks you’re sick,” she said carefully, “maybe you should listen to him. You don’t look great, Perce, and your throat sounds bad, too.”

“I’m not sick,” Percy insisted forcefully, but she could tell even he heard the roughness of his own voice. 

“You are, Seaweed Brain. Besides, missing half of one practice isn’t the end of the world. You’re already the best college pitcher, and—” 

“He benched me for tomorrow’s game, too,” Percy cut in. “And the others in the series, if I’m not better by then.”

Annabeth’s hands stilled. Suddenly his aggression and obstinance made a lot more sense, even if they were misplaced. 

“Percy…”

“I have never missed a game, Annabeth,” he said, turning to face her. His eyes were bloodshot. “Not one game. Especially not a series! And if recruiters are there…”

“I’m sure the recruiters know you by now, and they’d be crazy to let you missing one game affect their opinions,” she interrupted, grabbing his hand and squeezing it reassuringly. “This isn’t a major series, and maybe with a couple nights of rest you’ll be fine to play in the last game or two. It’s _okay_ , Seaweed Brain.”

Percy’s eyes flitted from hers to the blue comforter below them, studying it. “I just…Butch is alright but not a reliable strikeout thrower, and Malcolm’s just a freshman, so if we lose—”

“You have that little faith in your own team?” she teased lightly. 

“No, but the rest of the guys are at the top of their games. Our offense is great, so if we lose tomorrow it’ll be my fault.” Annabeth felt a fist tighten around her heart, squeezing it in her chest. 

“Perseus Jackson, you cannot actually believe that _being sick_ is something to blame yourself for,” she chided. “The team will be fine. Butch and Malcolm have it handled, and the rest of the guys know what they're doing. You’ve got to learn to trust the rest of the team to do their parts.”

He glanced up, meeting her eyes through his dark lashes. Even in sickness he managed to be beautiful, and Annabeth felt herself reaching out to run a hand soothingly through his hair, scratching his scalp gently. His eyes fell shut as he leaned into her touch. 

“I know,” he muttered at last, pressing his forehead to hers. “I just—if we lose…”

“Then they’d probably have lost even if you were playing,” Annabeth said firmly. “You’re good, Percy, but you’re not so good that the team will fall apart without you. You really think Jason would let that happen? Or Leo, or Beckendorf, or any of the others? _Chiron_?”

“No,” he answered softly. “You’re right. No surprise there.” A small smile was tugging at the edges of his mouth, and Annabeth let out a sigh before pressing her lips to his, chastely and quickly—he was sick, after all, and she didn’t need to be increasing her chances of catching whatever he had. 

(Of course, it was probably too late already, but she decided not to worry about that now.)

“Get changed, and I’ll make you some soup,” she ordered, hopping off the bed. 

Percy made a face. “How about ordering pizza?”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. “You really feel well enough to eat pizza?”

“Well…no. But soup is so boring.”

“Would it be less boring if I dyed it blue?”

“…maybe.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, turning on her heel and heading to the kitchen so he couldn’t see her smile. 

—

A few hours, two bowls of blue soup (it looked horribly unappetizing to Annabeth, but Percy was content and eating, so far be it from her to criticize), and about eight episodes of Parks and Rec later, the two finally dragged themselves off the couch and settled into bed. 

“Annabeth,” Percy said, his hand pausing briefly in the circles it was tracing on her arm, “you really think the guys will be fine tomorrow?”

Turning in his arms to face him, she answered, “You know how good they are. They wouldn’t be nearly as good as they are without you, but one game—even one series—is not going to damage anybody's records.”

Her eyes traced over his face, the shadows and moonlight creeping in from the blinds painting patterns across his skin. 

“I just don’t want to let them down,” Percy whispered finally. 

Annabeth’s heart ached. It was something she knew he struggled with—the thought that he wasn’t enough, that he was disappointing the people around him. She could hear it in his voice when he talked about his distant father, the abusive step-dad from his childhood, the failing grades and fights and constant stream of new schools, year after year. He pushed himself harder in school and in baseball—even in his relationships—than almost anyone Annabeth had ever met. Even more than herself, which was saying a lot. 

“You’re not letting anyone down, Percy,” she told him, her palm sliding over his cheek in a gentle caress. “You’ve done more for that team than anyone else. Well, maybe besides Chiron.” Percy smiled at that, but it was strained. “You’re sick, but they’ve got it handled and they know if you could play with them tomorrow you would. Trust them.”

Percy sucked in a shuddering breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right. It’s just one or two games. They’ll be fine.”

They fell into silence, taking comfort in each other’s warmth. Percy’s arms stayed wrapped around Annabeth, even as his breathing evened out and his eyes fluttered shut. 

Annabeth watched in rapture, drinking in every detail, memorizing the lines of his face—though she didn’t need to, she’d studied him enough by now. He was breathtaking, and she didn’t think she’d ever loved someone the way she loved him. 

She was positive she’d never love anyone so much again in her life. The thought overwhelmed her like a wave crashing onto the shore, but it receded, leaving the sand smooth and calm.

“You’re enough,” she whispered. “You’re more than enough.”

“I love you, Wise Girl,” he breathed back, apparently not asleep as she’d assumed. 

She curled into him further, and together they drifted off. 

—

Much to his displeasure, Percy was too sick to play in any of the three games that weekend. Having Annabeth there to take care of him helped to make up for it, but he still didn’t like having to stay home. 

They lost the second of the three games, but a home run from Frank that surprised everyone—including Frank himself—secured a win in the third, and the series was theirs. This helped Percy’s mood tremendously—as did the entire team, plus Hazel, Reyna, Piper, and Grover crowding into the tiny apartment Sunday afternoon to surprise him. 

Annabeth grinned as she watched him across the room, teasing Nico with Grover and Jason, a wide smile fixed in place as it had been since they’d all arrived. 

Annabeth thanked whatever deity had blessed her with someone so much more than just enough.


End file.
